Valentine's Day

February 2012

To order any of these titles, contact the library by email, mail or phone. You may also request these titles online through our OPAC. Identification numbers for braille books begin with BR, large print books begin with LP and audiobooks begin with DB. All audiobooks listed are linked to the Braille and Audio Reading Download site (BARD) for downloading, but may also be ordered by contacting the library. Happy Reading!

Preschool to Grade 2

A Kiss for Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik.Grandmother is so happy with Little Bear's picture that she sends him back a kiss. The kiss is passed from Grandmother to Hen to Cat to Little Skunk to a pretty little girl skunk, who passes it back to Skunk, before it finally gets to Little Bear, and the skunks have a lovely wedding. Little Bear series. BR 7951; LP 1957.

Silly Tilly's Valentine by Lillian Hoban.Mr. Bunny reminds her that the day is special, but while trying to recall why, Silly Tilly, the forgetful mole, gets distracted by the snow. LP 1003.

Valentine by Carol Carrick.Read by Pam Ward. Reading time 8 minutes.Heather is upset when her mother has to go to work on Valentine's Day. But while Heather and her grandmother wait on the farm baking holiday cookies, a wonderful thing happens. Grandma's sheep gives birth to three lambs, and one needs Heather's help. Download Valentine, DB 43137.

Valentine's Day by Anne Rockwell. Read by Kate Kiley. Reading time 5 minutes.The children in Mrs. Madoff's class make valentines to send to a special friend in Japan. On Valentine's Day the students receive a big envelope from Japan and exchange class valentines with one another. 2001. Download Valentine's Day, DB 61431.

Kindergarten to Grade 3

Arthur's Great Big Valentine by Lillian Hoban.After they have a falling out, Arthur and his best friend Norman make up with very special valentines. Arthur the Chimpanzee series. LP 1008.

Fluffy's Valentine's Day by Kate McMullan.Fluffy endures a bath and shampoo at school on Valentine's Day, but when another guinea pig named Kiss is placed in his play yard, his patience snaps. 1998. BR 18952.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.A young boy grows to manhood and then old age while experiencing the love and generosity of a tree that gives to him without thought of return. Large print book includes CD. Story read by Shel Silverstein. 1964. BR 19020; LP 2068.

Guess How Much I Love You? by Sam McBratney.Little Nutbrown Hare wants to tell Big Nutbrown Hare how much he loves him. When Little Nutbrown Hare says he loves his dad as far as his arms will stretch, Big Nutbrown Hare says the same thing, but his arms are much longer. How can Little Nutbrown Hare show he loves his dad more? BR 16174; LP 1300.

Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine by Barbara Park. Read by Susan McInerney. Reading time 52 minutes.Junie B. is delighted to receive a mushy, gushy "valentime"—as she calls it—from a secret admirer. When she finds out who he is, she is surprised. BR 14823; Download Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentime, DB 56525.

Love, Ruby Valentine by Laurie Friedman.After Ruby Valentine and her feathered friend Lovebird wear themselves out preparing cards and treats for Ruby's favorite day of the year, they sleep right through Valentine's Day. But Ruby discovers that saying "I love you!" is appreciated any day. BR 17025.

Valentine's Day Is… by Gail Gibbons.Discusses the customs celebrated on February 14, the day of friendship and love. Explains the origins of the holiday, reveals why the heart is the symbol of Valentine's Day, and describes how to make a valentine. BR 16905.

A Village Full of Valentines by James Stevenson.All the animals in the village are preparing for Valentine's Day by making valentines for someone special. Clifford has been waiting a long time for a valentine because he won't send one until he gets one. Murray is trying to make the world's most beautiful valentine, and Gus has a valentine for the whole village. Print/Braille. BR 10006.

Grades 2 to 4

Attack of the Fifty-Foot Cupid by Jim Benton.It's almost Valentine's Day. Franny's new lab assistant Igor, a dog of many breeds, accidentally brings to life a picture of Cupid and then enlarges Cupid to gigantic proportions. Now Franny has to deal with the problem. 2004. BR 16982.

Don't Be My Valentine by Joan M. Lexau.Sam is tired of Amy Lou always wanting to help him. But when he forgets the cookies for the Valentine party, and the mean valentine intended for Amy Lou goes to the teacher instead, Sam needs all the help he can get. BR 6944.

Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat.Detective Nate the Great hates mushy words, and slushy words, and valentines too. When someone gives his dog Sludge a valentine that says "I love you Sludge/More than fudge," he agrees to help Sludge find out who sent it. But Nate the Great soon finds himself involved in a case of two mystery valentines. BR 50714.

Saint Valentine by Ann Tompert.This short biography of the Christian saint covers those facts known about him and the reason his name is connected with a holiday celebrating friendship and love. BR 16279.

Super-Fine Valentine by Bill Cosby. Little Bill makes a special valentine for Mia but is reluctant to give it to her because he is afraid the other children in their third grade class will tease him. Print/Braille. BR 50552.

The Valentine Cat by Ann Whitehead Nagda. Read by Celeste Lawson. Reading time 2 hours 11 minutes. When her brother comes down with asthma, fourth-grader Jenny must find a new home for her cat Munchkin. Jenny wants Munchkin to be the school cat, but during the class's pet party on Valentine's Day, Munchkin does not make a good impression. 2008. Download The Valentine Cat, DB 69084.

Valentine's Day by Alice K. Flanagan. Read by Colleen Delany. Reading time 14 minutes. Explains how the holiday celebrating people in love got its name and why cupids, hearts, flowers, and cards figure in the traditions of February 14. Suggests ways to mark this special day. 2002. Download Valentine's Day, DB 54401.

Valentine's Day by Elizabeth Guilfoile.Valentine legends, traditions, greetings, symbols, and parties from the days of St. Valentine, 1700 years ago, to the present. BR 1818.

Grades 3 to 6

Four Stupid Cupids: The Hamlet Chronicles by Gregory Maguire.Read by Lindsay Ellison. Reading time 4 hours 38 minutes. The students' scheme to find a love match for their beloved teacher, Miss Earth, on Valentine's Day turns into a comedy of errors when four stupid cupids from Ancient Greece try to help. 2000. LP 823; Download Four Stupid Cupids: The Hamlet Chronicles, DB 60558.

The Malted Falcon: From the Tattered Casebook of Chet Gecko, Private Eye by Bruce Hale. Read by Gary Tipton. Reading time 1 hour 47 minutes. Lizard detective Chet Gecko and his mockingbird partner, Natalie Attired, are hired to find a missing winning ticket for free dessert and also to retrieve a valentine. But will Chet's sweet tooth prevent him from doing his job? 2003. Download The Malted Falcon: From the Tattered Casebook of Chet Gecko, Private Eye, DB 57596.

Stupid Cupid by Ilene Cooper.At twelve Maddy Donalson is bigger than her mother, who keeps urging her to diet. Maddy decides that might be a way to attract new student Mickey Torres. Meanwhile, Maddy and her four friends from camp, who get together every holiday, plan a Valentine's party. And Mickey agrees to come! Now if Maddy's plans to fix up a date for her widowed mother work out, everything will be perfect. BR 10295.

Valentine Poems by Myra Cohn Livingston.A collection of twenty poems, both humorous and serious, which celebrate Valentine's Day. Included are traditional poems like "Roses are Red," as well as poems by contemporary writers like Jane Yolen, Karla Kuskin, and David McCord. BR 7340.

Valentine's Day by Fern G. Brown.Each year we celebrate Valentine's Day, a lighthearted holiday noted by the exchange of Valentine's Day cards as tokens of love and friendship. This book explores the legends and customs of that holiday and provides a history of the Valentine's Day card. Also included are party ideas, recipes, and games. BR 7038.

Grades 4 to 7

Abby's Un-Valentine by Ann M. Martin.Valentine's Day is just a few weeks away, and everyone at school is getting in the spirit. Even Abby's twin, Anna, is excited. But Abby hates the idea; she doesn't like all that mushy stuff. So what is she going to do now that Ross has asked her to the Valentine Dance? BR 11103.

Anastasia at This Address by Lois Lowry.Read by Kerry Cundiff. Reading time 2 hours 42 minutes.Anastasia Krupnik is ready for romance. From the personals column in her father's magazine, she carefully selects an ad that reads "SWM [single white male], 28, boyish charm, inherited wealth" and begins a correspondence. She lies about her age and runs into trouble when he shows up to meet her! BR 8845; Download Anastasia at This Address, DB 33590.

Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy. Read by Mimi Bederman. Reading time 6 hours 51 minutes.After being thrown out of three boarding schools, twelve-year-old orphan Maggie moves into a bleak house in the country with her two great-aunts. There at Adelphi Hills, Maggie hears ghostly voices and finds magic that awakens in her the capacity to love and be loved. 1983. Download Behind the Attic Wall, DB 63707.

These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder.Read by Laura Giannarelli. Reading time 6 hours 26 minutes.In this last book in the 'Little House' series, Laura and Almanzo, the town's most eligible bachelor, enjoy a romance while she teaches in the district schools. They marry at the end of the school year and begin a long and happy life together. BR 11327; LP 1669; Download These Happy Golden Years, DB 21200..

To Every Season: A Family Holiday Cookbook by Jane Breskin Zalben.Presents a brief history of holidays throughout the calendar year with recipes for traditional favorites. Covers New Year's, Valentine's, St. Patrick's, April Fools', Easter, Passover, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas. 1999. BR 14146.

Grades 5 to 8

Bad Girls in Love by Cynthia Voigt.Following It's Not Easy Being Bad (BR 13368), best friends Mikey and Margalo are now in eighth grade and experiencing their first crushes. While Mikey becomes obsessed with the most popular boy in class, Margalo has a secret crush on a teacher. 2002. BR 14572.

Bingo Brown's Guide to Romance by Betsy Byars.Read by John Polk. Reading time 2 hours 13 minutes.To pass the time, Bingo Brown has begun writing his Guide to Romance, A Record of the Personal Ups and Downs of Bingo Brown. It is dedicated to his younger brother, Jamie, for whom it is written. Before he gets very far, however, a new romantic disaster occurs. Melissa, the love of his life and the only girl to smell of gingersnaps, returns to town unexpectedly. Download Bingo Brown's Guide to Romance, DB 37207.

Love and Marriage around the World by Carol Gelber. Read by Dan Bloom. Reading time 1 hour 30 minutes.Examines marriage as a universally recognized institution, usually with legal rights. Discusses the customs and practices of choosing a marriage partner and of performing wedding ceremonies in different societies around the world. Download Love and Marriage around the World, DB 47028.

Sister of the Bride by Beverly Cleary.Read by Anne Wessels. Reading time 6 hours 28 minutes.Barbara McLane's romantic ideas about married life are shattered when she helps her down-to-earth sister prepare for her wedding. 1963. BR 9777; Download Sister of the Bride, DB 27178.

The Unsigned Valentine: And Other Events in the Life of Emma Meade by Johanna Hurwitz.Vermont, 1911. Fifteen-year-old Emma is considered old enough to leave school and help on the farm but not old enough to fall in love. Cole Berry stays interested anyway and during a flood, takes a canoe to search for her. Sequel to Dear Emma (BR 17380). 2006. BR 18077.

Grades 6 to 9

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School; 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Younger Teens edited by Jack Canfield. Read by Carol Dines. Reading time 10 hours 54 minutes.Middle school teens share their experiences and emotions. Topics include friendship, mean girls--and boys, embarrassing moments, crushes and young love, self-acceptance, family issues, doing what is right, and more. In "In Between Is Okay" a girl describes her feelings about having partial sight. 2008. Download Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School, DB 72842..

Curtis Piperfield's Biggest Fan by Lisa Fiedler.At fourteen C.C. spends her days in St. Bernadette's Catholic School for Girls thinking about her crush on her neighbor Curtis. It doesn't matter that he's skinny and only in the eighth grade. He's planning to be a rock star, and C.C. is already his biggest fan. Meanwhile C.C.'s best friend, Cluck, has been in love with her his whole life even though all of C.C.'s friends are crazy about him. Some strong language. BR 10538.

Fifteen by Beverly Cleary.Read by Catherine Byers. Reading time 4 hours 16 minutes.Fifteen-year-old Jane Purdy experiences the joy and anguish of her first romance with Stan Crandall, a delivery boy she meets while baby-sitting. BR 4059; Download Fifteen, DB 31447.

On Viney's Mountain by Joan Donaldson.Cumberland Mountains, Tennessee; 1879. Sixteen-year-old weaver Viney resents the young Englishmen who arrive on her mountain to build a new utopian community called Rugby. But Viney falls in love with one of the strangers even as they change her way of life. 2009. BR 18820.

Runaround by Helen Hemphill.Kentucky, 1960s. Although an avid reader of romance magazines, eleven-year-old Sassy is unsure how to attract a handsome neighborhood teen to be her first boyfriend. Then she discovers that her pretty older sister Lula has been flirting with him, too. Uncontracted braille. 2007. BR 17559.

Junior and Senior High

A True and Faithful Narrative by Katherine Sturtevant.In London in the 1680s, Meg--now sixteen years old--tries to decide whether to marry either of the two men who court her, taking into account both love and her writing ambitions. 2006. BR 17139; LP 1516.

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Love and Friendship edited by Jack Canfield. Read by Kristin Allison. Reading time 6 hours 32 minutes.Companion to Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul (RC 44853) and others offers anecdotes, poems, and short essays by teenagers about falling in love, breaking up, friendship, family, and growing up. 2002. .Download Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Love and Friendship, DB 56229.

Don't Die, My Love by Lurlene McDaniel.Read by June Carter. Reading time 4 hours 37 minutes.High school juniors Julie and Luke have known each other for years and are in love. Luke is the star football player and Julie's father is his coach. Julie is waiting to see where Luke gets a football scholarship so she can apply to the same school. Then Luke is diagnosed with cancer. BR 11955; Download Don't Die, My Love, DB 47452.

Him She Loves? by M. E. KerrRead by Bruce Huntey. Reading time 4 hours 19 minutes.When Henry Schiller falls in love with Valerie Kissenwiser, he doesn't suspect that their romance will become national television's funniest comedy routine. Download Him She Loves?, DB 22434.

If This Is Love, I'll Take Spaghetti by Ellen Conford.Read by Mimi Bederman. Reading time 3 hours 11 minutes.Whether it's a famous rock star or the boy in geometry class--it's not always easy to be in love. Nine short stories explore the problems of teen romance. Download If This Is Love, I'll Take Spaghetti, DB 23570.

Roadside Valentine by C.S. Adler.Jamie wants love, not friendship, and he'll do almost anything to convince Louisa that they belong together. But his impulsive and very public declaration of love on Valentine's Day brings him more trouble than love. Some strong language. BR 9241.

Thwonk by Joan Bauer.High school senior A.J. McCreary has a lot of problems. After four failed relationships, she now has a crush on unattainable Peter Terris, her father forbids her to pursue a career as a photographer, and she is running out of time to take a perfect photo for the Valentine issue of the school paper. Then A.J. receives a visit from a tiny, irritating cupid complete with arrows that go "thwonk." BR 10227.

Senior High

The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman.Read by Erik Sandvold. Reading time 7 hours 5 minutes.June limits emotional attachments because her parents move regularly. But when June meets an unimpressive--and unimpressed--Wes, love surprisingly blossoms. The two struggle to maintain their relationship after June moves yet again. Some strong language. 2011.Download The Big Crunch, DB 73001.

Emily and the Scot by Kathryn Smith.Read by Vanessa Maroney. Reading time 7 hours 7 minutes.Great Britain, 1819. Eighteen-year-old Lady Emily Fitzgerald flees the London social scene to avoid marriage. At her half-brother's estate in Scotland she meets Jamie MacLaughlin and reconsiders. 2003. Download Emily and the Scot, DB 57215.

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti.Read by Mimi Bederman. Reading time 7 hours 32 minutes.In the summer of her junior year, sixteen-year-old Ruby McQueen and her mother, both nursing broken hearts, help an elderly member of their book club reunite with a lost love. Along the way they gain independence. Some strong language. National Book Award Finalist. 2005. LP 1622; Download Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, DB 59694.

Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green.Read by Jill Fox. Reading time 7 hours 31 minutes.In three interconnected short stories set in a small southern town, six teens discover unexpected romance after a train is stranded by a blizzard. In "The Jubilee Express" Jubilee takes refuge in a Waffle House and meets local boy Stuart. 2008. Download Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances, DB 68582.

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor.Read by Erin Jones. Reading time 6 hours 22 minutes.Three short stories about kissing. In "Goblin Fruit" Kizzy's grandmother warns her lonely granddaughter against soul-stealing trickster goblins. Then a cute new boy at school shows romantic interest in her. Includes "Spicy Little Curses Such as These" and "Hatchling." Some strong language. 2009. BR 18980; Download Lips Touch: Three Times, DB 70723.

Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley.Read by Kristin Allison. Reading time 5 hours 47 minutes.Calliope travels around the country with her nomadic, jewelry-making mother, while Eliot lives at a North Carolina Christian fat farm run by his born-again father. The two fifteen-year-olds meet and fall in love as they struggle to grow up. 2006. BR 16921; Download Scrambled Eggs at Midnight, DB 63585.

Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber.Read by Kristin Allison. Reading time 3 hours 55 minutes.Outcast goth teen Raven copes with her hippie-turned-corporate parents, nerdy brother, and the school bully in small town Dullsville. Then she falls in love with the new boy, Alexander, who moves into the town's haunted mansion and is rumored to be a real vampire. Vampire Kisses series, book 1. 2003. LP 1894; Download Vampire Kisses, DB 61381.

Vegan Virgin Valentine by Carolyn Mackler.High-school senior Mara's life goes topsy-turvy when her delinquent sixteen-year-old niece "V" arrives to live with the family. Mara loosens up when she falls for her boss at the coffeehouse and when V enjoys her new, stable home. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2004. BR 15649.